On track to save nightingales

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The future of one of Britain’s fastest-disappearing birds rests with a tiny
number in a research programme. There are just 6,000 singing male
nightingales in Britain, a decline of 52 per cent in eight years. Their
strongholds in southeast England and East Anglia are shrinking but
scientists have been unable to explain the decline.

Last summer ten nightingales were
fitted with tiny tracking devices to monitor their 3,000-mile migration
to West Africa. The trackers contained an electronic clock, calendar and
light meter to pinpoint the birds’ location. Seven have now returned to East
Anglia. The trackers show that they took